Of the 16 centres across the city, 11 are in government-run hospitals and five in private hospitals.
(PTI File Photo) As the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) gears up to begin its Covid-19 vaccination drive, it has included five private hospitals in the list of 16 centres where the drive would begin on January 16 for frontline workers, based on the assurance that the private hospitals would help the civic body during the vaccination drive for the public.
“The 16 centres have been identified by PMC for the vaccination drive as per the directions of the Union government. Preparations are on at the centre to meet all the necessary requirements…,” said Ashish Bharati, chief of PMC’s health department.
Of the 16 centres across the city, 11 are in government-run hospitals and five in private hospitals. “The five private hospitals selected as centres are based on the instructions of the divisional commissioner’s office. These hospitals have assured the divisional commissioner that they will help the PMC administer the vaccine to the public in later phases,” said Bharati, adding that civic staff would be posted at government facilities for administering vaccine to beneficiaries while the PMC would provide training to staff in private hospitals for the vaccination drive.
“As many as 500-600 vaccines will be administered per day at each centre during the later phases. The selected private hospitals have assured us they will help the PMC do it,” said Bharati.
The minimum criteria for each centre is to have three separate rooms — a waiting room, a vaccination room and an observation room. Every beneficiary is supposed to wait for half-an-hour in the observation room under the vigilance of the medical staff to ensure there is no adverse reaction. The room would be equipped with necessary medical equipment for treatment of patients. The centre also needs to have proper internet connectivity for real time update of data.
While the civic administration is preparing for the vaccination drive, the list of beneficiaries as well as the number of doses to be made available at each centre is still not final. “The beneficiaries are registered on the website of the Union government. The government will inform the PMC about the list of beneficiaries, along with the centre where they would be given the vaccine…,” said Bharati.
The handling of vaccine vials would not be an issue as the PMC would be administering the vaccine on the same day of procurement. “The vaccine has to be kept in low temperatures, between 2 degree to 8 degree Celsius… The administering of the vaccine at each centre would be conducted within few hours of procurement,” said the senior PMC official.